1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to a reaction chamber for manufacturing a carbon nanotube, an apparatus for manufacturing the carbon nanotube, and a system for manufacturing the carbon nanotube. More particularly, example embodiments of the present invention relate to a reaction chamber for manufacturing a carbon nanotube having a high purity at a high temperature, an apparatus having the reaction chamber for manufacturing the carbon nanotube, and a system including the reaction chamber for manufacturing the carbon nanotube.
2. Description of the Related Art
A carbon nanotube as an allotrope of carbon may have a crystalline structure in which carbon atoms are combined as a hexagonal honeycomb structure. The carbon nanotube usually has a diameter of about several nanometers. Since the carbon nanotube has excellent mechanical properties, field emission characteristics, an electrical selectivity and a highly efficient hydrogen storing property, the carbon nanotube is widely employed in various fields such as an aeronautical and space engineering, environmental and energy industries, a material and pharmaceutical engineering, electric and electronic apparatuses, biotechnology, security control technology, etc.
A conventional carbon nanotube is obtained by an electric discharging process, a plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process, a thermal CVD process, a thermal decomposition process, etc. Particularly, the thermal CVD process and the thermal decomposition process are generally employed for manufacturing the conventional carbon nanotube.
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a conventional apparatus for manufacturing a carbon nanotube.
To manufacture a carbon nanotube by a thermal CVD process or a thermal decomposition process, the conventional apparatus for manufacturing the carbon nanotube includes a cylindrical reaction tube 1 and a heating member 3 for heating the reaction tube 1 as shown in FIG. 1. The heating member 3 includes a heating coil enclosing the cylindrical reaction tube 1. The reaction tube 1 may be heated by the heating member 3 at a temperature above 1,000° C.
The conventional apparatus for manufacturing the carbon nanotube shown in FIG. 1, a gas is provided into the reaction tube 1 through one lateral portion of the reaction furnace, and the gas is exhausted from the reaction furnace 1 through the other lateral portion of the reaction tube 1. After a substrate is loaded in the reaction tube 1, the carbon nanotube is formed on the substrate by heating the reaction tube 1 to a high temperature while providing the gas onto the substrate.
In the conventional apparatus for manufacturing the carbon nanotube, however, the heating member 3 partially encloses the reaction tube 1 because other elements of the conventional apparatus may have thermal damages when the heating member 3 entirely encloses the reaction tube 1. Hence, a space of the reaction tube 1 for forming the carbon nanotube may be relatively reduced and an efficiency of the conventional apparatus may be deteriorated. That is, the substrate is positioned only in the space of the reaction tube 1 enclosed by the heating member 3 so that the efficiency of the conventional apparatus may be reduced. More particularly, only 40 to 60 percent of an entire inside of the reaction tube 1 may be utilized as the space for forming the carbon nanotube. Additionally, the gas may not be uniformly provided into the reaction tube 1 to deteriorate a purity of the carbon nanotube because the gas passes through relatively wide portions in the reaction tube 1 until the gas reaches at the substrate positioned in a space of the reaction tube 1 for forming the carbon nanotube. The carbon nanotube manufactured using the conventional apparatus may have a poor purity, and the conventional apparatus may not advantageously employed in high-volume manufacturing since the efficiency of the conventional apparatus is reduced and the gas is not uniformly provided onto the substrate. Furthermore, the heating member 3 directly heats the reaction tube 1 of the conventional apparatus such that a durability of the reaction tube 1 may be considerably deteriorated.